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There Are Lots Of Fish Out There

Photo by FRED EVERSON

Sarah Reuters and Mike Strickland display a bonnethead shark caught off Sand Key on a free-lined live shrimp.

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FRED EVERSON

Tribune Correspondent

Published: January 21, 2009

A series of minor cold fronts shut the bite down recently.

I fished the flats south of Apollo Beach on a low-rising tide last week and saw only a few redfish, all of which looked to be over the slot. I can't be sure about that, because I couldn't get any of them to bite.

Even my go-to bait for low-water sight fishing, a two-inch, plastic crab, failed to generate any interest. I also saw a single cobia. It followed a plastic mullet all the way back to the boat, but it, too, decided to leave it alone. It was a great day of fishing, but the catching wasn't so hot.

A day later, I decided to fish the flats south of the Little Manatee River. There was a light breeze out of the north, which is perfect for poling these flats. We saw lots of sheepshead and bonnethead sharks but very few redfish.

The reds we did see looked to be over the top of the 27-inch cap, and they were pretty spooky. We even threw large, live shrimp at them, but they wouldn't eat. A cold front had passed through the bay the previous evening, and that probably turned the reds off.

We caught three big bonnetheads and released them all. These fish were all in the 10-pound class, and they put up quite a battle on light tackle. They fight a lot like redfish.

Trout season has been back on since the first of the year, and there have been a few fish caught around the mouth of the Little Manatee River. Like most other fish, trout shut down for a bit after a cold front, but they are more tolerant of low water temperatures than other fish.

We will have early morning, minus tides this week, which present a good opportunity to target tailing redfish. The extreme low tides of the season push fish away from the mangroves and onto the flats.

When it's calm, as it often is around sunrise, redfish will root around in the sand with the tips of their tales poking above the surface. Seeing isn't catching, however, as these fish are very spooky in shallow water. The trick is to cast far enough away from the fish so the splash of the lure doesn't alarm the fish.

Then you just want to drag the lure close enough to catch its attention. This is also the ideal situation for the stealth afforded by a flyrod. You can practically dump a fly on the fish's head without scaring it.

I like to wade the flats between Sand Key and Mag's Hole, staying just outside the sandbar. When the water temperature is in the high 60s, snook will also be on the flats, as they have been all winter. They are even warier than redfish - especially the big ones. I like to throw jerkbaits at both fish since they can be rigged weedless, and they don't make a big splash, even on long casts.

Fred Everson is a Ruskin fishing guide. All South Shore fishermen and guides may submit information and photographs to be included in this column by calling (813) 830-8890 or sending an e-mail to ihuntsnook @aol.com.

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